Photo's of Souls
by Skullstarwrites2
Summary: Leah has run a hotel in LocketHeart with her friends for two years now, so when a new photo joint opens, she can't help but be curious. But as animals begin to disappear, her curiosity may lead her to dangerous places... Please R&R!
1. The Hotel

Animal Beauty Shots

The Soul Stealer

Chapter 1

The Hotel

Leah dashed from the lobby upstairs, then, balancing the tray of food on her hip, knocked on the screen door leading into the Fruit Bedroom. The desert orange crocodile opened the door and grinned widely at the tray of food in front of him.

"Wow, itsa-me! This food looks great!" Alfonso squealed and took the load out the brunette's arms.

Leah smiled shyly folding her hands in front of her black-n-white uniform. "We at LocketHeart hotel cooked it special for you, Alfonso."

As she turned to leave, Alfonso grabbed her wrist.

"Where ya goin', itsa-me? A meal's not complete without a companion!" Leah turned, surprised at his invitation. Was she hungry? Yes, but…

"C'mon, itsa-me!" Alfonso dragged her inside and sat her in the Melon chair on the other side of his Grapefruit table, now taken up by food. "Dig in!"

Leah smiled her thanks and carefully picked up a piece of crayfish from the table in front of her. Peeling of the shell, she bit carefully into the steaming meat. Though very hot, the flavor kept her from putting it down. She bit the piece off and chewed, the shrimp-ish flavor coating her tongue.

Leah and Alfonso ate happily and quietly, every few minutes chatting about the food.

A half-hour past, and Leah got up from the table to leave. She bowed to Alfonso and told him to have a good night.

"Thanks for the meal, itsa-me!" He gushed. "I'm heading down to the new Photo Palace tomorrow before I leave town."

Leah's eyes perked up. "I've heard that was opening. Getting your picture taken, right?"

"Yep! They take great photos. I need one for a friend of mine." Alfonso yawned and walked Leah out of his 10x10 room. "I'll see you at check-out, itsa-me!" Leah smiled and slid his door shut, then turned down the hall and went downstairs to the lobby.

The lobby was filled with all sorts of couches and chairs. A fireplace crackled in the back, and Aishia stood at the front room podium, filling out a sheet of paper,p probably for a newcomer. Aishia twirled a strand of blonde hair and turned back towards Leah.

"Welcome back." She smiled.

"Alfonso invited me to eat with him, and I couldn't say no." Leah scratched the top of her head and walked over the podium. "He's getting his picture taken at that new place near Nook's."

"The Picture Palace?"

"Yep. Say, where's Will?"

Aishia turned back to her papers. "He's out collecting fruit and fishes."

"Oh, ok."

Leah walked over to the fireplace and stared into the flames. Why did Will have to collect supplies every minute he had to spare? They were supposed to be friends. Leah shook her head at her own sensitivity and smiled. It was going to be a beautiful day tomorrow, and she looked forward to going with Will to the fireworks.

Aishia watched Leah, grinning. Poor lovesick kid.

--

Inya grinned as she set the flash on the new 'camera'. Her sister Anya sat at the register, staring at the rain falling mercilessly on the town of LocketHeart. Their sinister journey had brought them and their 'equipment' here. After wiping other towns outside of this particular region, they decided to strike the next highest populated town. Inya finished with the camera and walked into the back room, gazing at all the 'photos' they had taken. A purple duck and a white and red cat were one of the many they had victimized.

There was a knock, and Inya walked over to the oaken door and pulled it open. A racoon-like creature stood infront of her in a green apron imprinted with a leaf.

"You just moved in, yes?" He greeted in a strange accent Inya couldn't place. "Allow me to introduce myself, hm? I am Tom Nook, owner of the shop down the road.

"And?" Inya raised an eyebrow.

"...just stopped by to greet you! I best get out of this rain. The town is talking about your opening, so be ready for your business, hm?" His mood dampened, he walked the ten meters down to his shop, Nook's Cranny, and scrambled inside.

Inya closed the door and looked over to her sister. "Seems we'll have our work cut out for us in this town, huh, sis?"

Anya laughed darkly. "So it seems."


	2. The Photo

Alfonso waved happily at the front of the hotel, then turned and dragged his baggage towards the Photo Palace six blocks away. His luggage bumped over the stone tile on the walk. He walked into Nookington's, where Tom would watch his items while he got his picture taken. He then backed out and walked over to the gray stony Picture Palace.

The bell rang as he opened the oak wood door, painted a light gray.

"Hello, itsa-me? It's Alfonso, here for my appointment!" The crocidile walked over to the counter where a smiling, green haired girl in a black and green dress greeted him.

"Welcome, Alfonso!" Anya greeted warmly. "Yes, you're right on time." She slid a clipboard into her hands and stepped out from behind the desk. "If you'd just follow me, we can get started."

"Oh boy, itsa-me! I'm really excited!" Alfonso gushed and followed Anya down the wood hallway to a red painted room with camera equipment and various backgrounds.

Another girl, Inya, grinned at Alfonso and told him to take a seat on the stool in front of the background he chose on the sheet he filled out. Simply overjoyed, Alfonso sat down hard on the stool in front of the painted beach behind him.

"Smile big!" Inya said, and then a flash of white. Alfonso blinked, then his eyes clouded.

"I don't feel so good…" Alfonso dizzily stood, then tripped, landing on his jaw. He twitched, then laid still.

Inya pulled the photo out of the camera and chuckled.

"This ones a keeper, sis."


	3. The fireworks

"It's a great day, Will!" Leah exclaimed as she strolled next to the shimmering river, Will on her other side.

"S-s-sure, Leah." Will stammered. He always got uncomfortable around her lately, and his chest throbbed. He had no idea why, though Aishia had been trying to drop a few hints her refused to recognize.

Will and Leah set down the fishing rod and carrying case. Leah expertly twirled her basket in her arm. The fireworks starting an hour, when the sun finally set. Will baited his hook and cast. Leah ran into the woods behind them, searching for fruit trees.

Leah stopped at a apple tree and shook as hard as she could. Six ripe, scarlet apples fell, and Leah tossed all of them into her basket before streaking through the woods again.

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When she returned to Will's spot fifty minutes later, he had caught two koi, one goldfish, and an eel. Frustration painted on his face, he motioned her to sit next to him for the fireworks, the sun's last fierce rays just barely reaching over the horizon.

"…good job?" She said to Will, who laid his fishing rod down and laid back on their blanket.

He glanced at her. "Shut. Up."

She opened her mouth to say she meant it, and that Aishia was the sarcastic one, when a flash of violet shattered the sky. They both looked up to the explosion of colors, the sound echoing in the city's cliff-like border. Will felt guilty about what he said to Leah, but now wasn't the time.

He simply sat next to her and watched the fireworks, grinning.


	4. Another dissapearance and Aishia's worry

_Sorry about how short the last chapter was. I'm still hoping for some reviews, some motivation to continue writing. Anyways, chapter four._

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Aishia strolled happily down the hall and preceded down the stairs. Three animals had checked in today, all for the new Picture Palace. She wasn't sure why everybody wanted their picture taken so badly, but business was booming because of it. Will and Leah would be back from the festival in an hour, so she had time to attend to her own needs.

Rosie, a cute blue kitten-like creature popped out of her Lovely bedroom, bumping into Aishia.

"Sorry, silly!" Rosie squeaked as she helped Aishia up. Rosie was in a pink and white swimsuit, likely for the hotel's pool.

"It's fine, Rosie. You're going swimming I resume?" Aishia asked.

"Actually no. I'm getting my picture taken in a beach theme!" Rosie squealed happily. "I can only image how cute I'll look, silly!"

Aishia laughed. "I'm excited to see the picture when you get back, Rosie."

"Yep! I should be back in an hour at the most, silly!"

Rosie grinned and skipped out of the lobby and into the night-time air. The fireworks were still popping, ooh's and aah's echoing in the town. Rosie arrived at the Picture Palace in minutes, and opened the oaken door whistling.

"Hello, you must be Miss Rosie?" Anya asked.

"Yep! Are you ready to take my picture, silly?"

"We always are. Come with me." Anya led Rosie to the red room, Inya helping her pose on the sugar-white sand.

"Ready, Rosie?" Inya asked, her ambition flashing in her red eyes.

"Yep!" And Rosie grinned for the last time in the camera flash.

"Wa…wait. I think I… I think I blinked." Rosie started to smile, but her well brushed fur, usually fluffy, fell flat as Rosie fainted on the sand.

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Aishia paced warily, Will and Leah already in their rooms, asleep. It had been four hours since Rosie left, three hours longer than her promised return time. Even with LocketHeart's low crime rate, something still could have happened. Rosie could have been kidnapped, mugged, raped, even killed. Aishia pounded her fist against the podium, shaking her blonde hair out of her eyes. No. Not in this town. That's why she built a hotel in LocketHeart, to escape from her old city's crime.

Aishia gave the door one last glance, sighed, and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, which was Blue themed. The staff bedrooms were on the fourth floor, Aishia's being closest to the stairs. Will was in the middle, Leah's the last room down. Will had always like the homey feeling of Cabin, and Leah adored the color Green.

For Aishia, blue was the color of water, rain, and the sea. It was her color of freedom, the color of the sky. She was proud for it to be her eye color, and the color of her birthstone.

Aishia changed out of her black maid cosplay and into her white nightgown, settling into her bed, fireplace crackling. She didn't feel like watching TV, but wasn't tired enough to sleep. She just needed to feel the warmth of her bed, and the security of her room.

After dozens of prayer's for Rosie, Aishia fell into a surprisingly comforting sleep.


	5. Do they know?

"What's wrong, Aishia?" Leah asked the next morning. Aishia had been paler than the moon all day, and Leah was beginning to worry.

"Rosie hasn't come back."

"Rosie?"

"Yeah. She checked in a few days ago. She left to go get her picture taken, and hasn't come back."

Leah gasped at this fact, remembering Alfonso's taxi had never left town.

Will rolled his eyes in the background. Rosie had probably just wondered off to a garden, and Alfonso was pigging out in a restaurant, for all he cared. LocketHeart had never had any problems with crime before, and it wasn't going to happen now. Aishia and Leah were both overreacting.

"I'll go down to the photo shop and ask if they saw them." Leah told Aishia.

"You aren't going out alone."

"I'll be fine." And with that, Leah pushed through the door and down to the photo shop.

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Anya looked up when the bell jingled, and the door opened. There were no appointments today. Anya had checked. Twice.

"Excuse me?" The young girl asked in a maid outfit. "Have you seen a blue cat, female, or a male yellow alligator?"

Anya took a second to respond, but once she did, it was a carefully constructed lie.

"Yes, they both came in and were photographed, then left. Sorry, that's all I know."

The brunette nodded sadly and left, walking slowly out the door. Anya made her way to the developing room, and pressed the orange button leading to the intercom.

"Yes, Anya?" Inya asked.

"A human visited."

"Another appointment?"

"No. She was wondering where the two animals were."

There was a pause, then Inya busted over-dramatically out the steel-trap door.

"Do they know?"

"No… not yet."

The evil twins looked at each other for awhile, knowing what this could mean for their existence.

"Well then." Inya blinked. "What should we do?"

"We'll wait and see what happens and keep doing what we've been doing for thousands of years." Anya looked out the only window the store had, facing the river. "We'll photograph souls."

---


	6. Anger over coffee

"So, did they say anything?" Aishia asked as Leah trudged through the hotel's revolving door.

Leah glanced up at her; "No. They said they took their pictures and left."

Aishia nodded solemnly and poked Will, who was still sore from leaning over the lobster tank, trying to pick them up for boiling and shelling.

"Yo, Will. Whatcha' think's goin' on?"

"If you ever talk like that again, Aishia…"

"Hey, just lightening the mood."

Will rolled his eyes, still skeptical of the 'disappearances'. "I think you two are being paranoid. They're just fine, probably wandered off."

"But Rosie? For almost a day?"

She had a point, Rosie hadn't been seen since last sunset. Will sighed and looked at the two girls, one totally out of it and the other surprisingly cool, for the most part.

"Let's go to the coffee shop and talk to Brewster. K.K. might be there, too."

"Well, duh." Aishia snickered as she slipped on her tennis shoes in replacement for her work high-heels. "It's Saturday."

---

The Roost was mostly empty, all the citizens that had been there had rushed home once they heard the rain begin to fall. Brewster acknowledged the three with a small grunt, and continued washing the coffee mugs. K.K. Rider's guitar strummed quietly, the white dog day-dreaming while his paws rhythmically picked the strings.

"K.K!" Leah radiated joy at seeing him, leaping up on the rostrum.

"Hello there Leah." K.K. Rider's hippie accent greeted.

"Can you play K.K. Soul?" Leah requested, her favorite song already playing in the back of her mind.

"Mellow. I can dig that…." K.K. went on with his usual opening and began playing the song, animalese slipping from his mouth in sweet, pixilated tones.

Leah hummed along, her hair warming in the spotlight.

Meanwhile:

"Will, whether you'll believe it or not, something is going on. I know it."

"I'll say it again, you two are paranoid. Rosie being gone like this is weird, but nothing bad happened to her, or Alfonso."

"Right. So, the cab's when waiting there for two days just for the hell of it."

"AISHIA…! Ah… Aishia, nothing happened."

Will's sudden outburst had startled everyone in the Roost, even K.K. stopped playing and looked up, Brewster putting down the mug currently being cleaned and looking over at the two.

Aishia's cerulean eyes glinted with embarrassed anger. "Will, why are you so riled up about this?"

"Why are you?"

Aishia stood up suddenly, knocking her and Will's coffee over to the wood floor. K.K. continued playing to comfort Leah, but still kept a close eye on the two.

"_I'm riled up because two of our friends are more than likely missing, and you are sitting there telling me it's all just paranoia, just to make yourself feel better!_" Aishia shouted, poor Will under her mercy.

Leah leapt off the stage and ran out the door. She turned immediately out the door to the museum, not bothering to say 'hello' to Blathers. Her tears ran freely with the rain as she ran, not looking where she was going, straight away into the river.


	7. The Search

The river was only a little more wet than the rain itself, which had soaked Leah near to the bone firstly. The river was much more cold, even in the summer, because of the Boondocks mountain's snow melting into the body of water.

Leah had unfortunately inhaled water after Cold Water Shock hit her, the hotel maid sinking into unconsciousness as fast as she sank into deeper water.

Inya, who had decided to scalp for more victims, had seen the brunette take the plunge. Helping her out was for debate. Why should she? It's not like she could take a 'picture' of her while she was asleep. The process didn't work like that. The victim needed to be awake and willing to get their picture taken for the camera to work.

Then again, if they took care of her until she felt better, she might be willing to pay them back by volunteering for a picture. Inya smiled at the idea. They hadn't had a good human picture for years.

Inya took her tripod out of her pack and hooked it in the back of Leah's over jacket, hoisting the teenager up and out of the water. The wet outfit on Leah added a near ten pounds, and demonic photographers weren't known for their arm strength, if they were known at all.

After a frustrating, mile-long drag-walk, Inya finally pushed through the Picture Palace's front door with a now semi-dry maid and a now semi-damp photographer.

"Inya, what did you do?" Anya asked, remembering Inya's last action that got them kicked out of their last town, Tree Creek.

"Watched this kid run straight into the river bawling about something, then pulled her out and dragged her here."

"…Why?"

"I don't know why she was sobbing-"

"No, why'd you pull her out?"

Inya cleared her throat over-dramatically, grinning inwardly she had prepared an answer.

"I'd like to say it was because I found the goodness in my heart I've been looking so long for, but it's actually because I figured this kid would be so grateful for us rescuing and nursing her back to health from what will probably be horrid pneumonia and pose for a picture at our asking."

"Ah. So, would that involve letting her lay on the floor like a rag doll?"

Inya scrambled to pick up Leah, barely able to carry her to the extra bedroom downstairs. Anya rolled her eyes at her winded sister, who had collapsed at the top of the stairs.

"Go…get…some…soup…or something." Inya gasped.

Anya meandered into the stainless-steel kitchen, pulling out various soup ingredients. Most would think it wasn't worth it, but with Anya and Inya's case, it was.

"HELLO?!" A high-pitched voice called from the other side of the door.

Inya breathed in her composure, then walked to the door to find what looked like a vulture outside in the rain.

"Cuz', your door needs a knocker or something', you couldn't hear me."

"Right… come this way Amelia." Inya had luckily memorized the schedule.

---

"Leah! LEAH! Where are you?" Will called out into the forest, moon lighting his desperate search. Aishia herself was searching the beach area, where Leah collected shells to decorate the front steps of the hotel.

Brewster himself was also searching, and suggested they also search for Rosie and Alfonso. The pigeon flew through the air for the first time in years, K.K. Rider attracting attention in town square for everyone available in town to start searching.

Will looked over the landscape from the cherry tree he climbed, stewing in self-pity, while Aishia silently hated him as she dashed down the rain-washed beach.


End file.
